TESLA THE SILICON VALLEY'S DAVID THAT FIGHTS AGAINST FIVE GOLIATHS

“And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slang it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his forehead; and he fell upon his face to the earth. So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and smote the Philistine, and slew him; but there was no sword in the hand of David.” 1 Samuel 17:49-50 KJV

Regardless of never having touched a Bible Who does not know the story of David and Goliath? Because it is a classic, most know what it means: the victory of the small against the big, the helpless against the powerful. It is a song to infinite possibilities even when it seems that everything is lost. It is a peculiar metaphor that extends all over the planet, which focuses on the desire to be able to decide one's fate without being subject to the limitations of the environment.

There are many examples of Goliath nowadays, although there is one that has a significant impact on the future of businesses. Tesla Motors, a Silicon Valley-based automaker, which rose to fame when it decided to produce the Tesla Roadster, the first sports car, serial and completely electric. With just over a decade in the market, Tesla could still be considered a start-up. Like a David of the automotive industry, Tesla Motors challenge the weight - and tradition- of the giants of the sector. Tesla's is one of the biggest industrial disruptions of the last half century and its effects promise to change the rules of the game beyond cars. The company has been so successful that it not only develops its own original components, but also sells electric propulsion elements - including lithium-ion battery packs to other car manufacturers such as Daimler and Toyota.

But why Tesla? The answer has to do with the Croatian physicist and electrical engineer Nikola Tesla. The Tesla Roadster uses an AC motor that derives directly from an 1882 Tesla's original design. Tesla is an iconic development, a cult company, founded by Elon Musk in 2003, with the intention of accelerating the transition to more sustainable transportation and thus help reduce global warming.

As a start-up, the company committed itself to challenge all rules of the century-old automotive industry. Musk's interest was not just to transform the car, but mobility as a whole. Tesla's designs are so innovative that many claim that the only known part of its interior are the steering wheel, pedals and the shift lever. In addition, the modular design allows Tesla Motors to reuse components in different models both own and from other manufacturers. The system is very compact and contains far fewer moving parts than a conventional combustion engine.

But changes come not only from the technology side but also from the selling process of the units. Tesla intends to incorporate major innovations, especially when the company decided to change the supply chain using the production model called electronic manufacturing services (EMS). A normal practice in the electronics industry but completely disruptive for car manufacturers. It also defies the traditional structure of automotive dealers when it comes to direct sales to consumers - although the last word is not yet said in this sense. This could be one of the great industrial innovations of Tesla: the electronization of the car production processes. In this move, Tesla not only includes a lot of digital parts, but also incorporates agile process management, a practice so typical of the software development industry.

But why is Tesla so innovative? Because it was not the first to open a research and development laboratory in the Silicon Valley area, in fact pioneers were BMW, Daimler and Volkswagen, back in the '90s. The reasons seem to be beyond the manufacturing floor, as electronics OEMs were located near companies such as Apple, Intel, Facebook, HP and Cisco, with the intention of accelerating the pace of their innovations and with it reduce software development times but also with the objective to rethink the whole design process. One thing is to have R & D in the valley and another to have the complete company there, as is the case with Tesla, that allowed the car maker to question absolutely everything from design, manufacturing and the organization of sales and marketing.

We are witness an era of extreme transformations, big crusades, like in the case of Tesla. No matter the challenges and how deep are carved in stone those practices that govern a business or a manufacturing floor. Modern days Davids are accustomed to a new dynamic: it is not the size they have but the noise they produce when they fall.